“Why not?” said San Diego’s Bud Black who, in a joint statement with the Baltimore Orioles’ Dave Trembley, announced that the two last place managers would trade wives Nanci Steffen Black and Patti Trembley. No cash was involved.

Though neither woman was on their husband’s team’s 40-person roster, and were both eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, each quickly cleared waivers.

“Bud’s got a nice butt,” said a surprised but pleased Patti Trembley.

Nanci Black was less sanguine about the trade. “The only one in our family who’s going anywhere is Bud. He’s headed for the couch. And, if he’s not careful, the DL.”

Baseball is a sport with a long history of superstition. From The Curse of the Bambino to not stepping on foul lines to eating only chicken before games (as Hall of Famer Wade Boggs did for over 20 years) players have slavishly embraced seemingly illogical rituals.

However, changing the ritual of marriage to stop a losing streak is brand new in the annals of baseball’s superstitions. “Yankee pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich traded wives Marilyn and Susanne in 1972,” says best-selling baseball author Peter Golenbock, “but that was about love, not losing.”

“What’s love got to do with it?” said Trembley, “we’re going really bad.”

One of the pioneers of fantasy baseball leagues, Golenbock predicted that if the Orioles or Padres – or both – start winning, the wife trade could revolutionize fantasy baseball forever. “You’re going to have to draft wives and girl friends, and evaluating them in terms of their effect on on-field performance will be a real challenge.”

Both Peterson and Kekich were left-handed, perhaps explaining their hijinks. Black, a former major league pitcher is also a southpaw. No one has ever seen Trembley, the only current manager not to have played in the major leagues, throw a baseball, but, observed Golenbock, “he sure is acting left-handed.”

The Padres and Orioles are in last place in their respective divisions of the National and American leagues.

Trump calls on American Kennel Club to ban Chihuahuas from all dog shows. "They're foreign," explained Trump.

Donald Trump to finance and star in "Spawn of the Dead," "horror film with comedic elements," about son who inherits 27,000 NYC properties from his millionaire slumlord father.

More bad news for Phil Mickelson: In addition to a burgeoning $2.7 million illegal gambling scandal, the PGA is investigating rumors that the golfer may be a registered Democrat. “We’ll get to the bottom of this,” said Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem in a terse statement to the press.